Tympanum Of St Foy Analysis

The ever-changing paradigms of Christian Mysticism can be reflected in the works of art, architecture, and of course, prose of the era. The contemporary works often reflect the same world/religious view despite being different disciplines. The Tympanum of St. Foy reflects the medieval age view of order and hierarchy, backed by the social/economic structure of feudalism. When compared to pieces of prose from the medieval era, one can see how both reflect the same views. I will be using Pseudo-Dionysius’ The Mystical Theology and this Tympanum to show how prose of the era and the architecture, despite being different disciplines, reflect the same paradigm views.

Pseudo-Dionysius was a theological writer from circa 500 AD. The core of his writing, The Mystical Theology, is unarguably

The central figure’s right hand is uplifting (upward motion) souls (Christians) to Heaven (Union with God). On the other side, his left hand (downward motion) is condemning souls (sinners) to Hell. The very bottom of Dionysius’s hierarchy are “those attached to the objects of human thought…” This coincides with the idea of sin being the condemnation to Hell. People holding obsessions with worldly lusts (attachment of human thought) will never obtain the uplift into Heaven (a union with God). Furthermore, these people are presumably the aforementioned uninitiated, unable to begin to ascend unless they first let go off their attachment. Ultimately, Pseudo-Dionysius’s spin on Christian Theology incorporates the Neoplatonic view of the soul. The major difference being union with The One (Neoplatonist) versus God (Christianity). Imperative to this view is the ascension based motion mentioned several times, a view indoctrinated into the medieval Christian view. The Tympanum, built ~500 years after The Mystical Theology, reflects this indoctrinated view, whereas the prose demonstrates how this indoctrination